Door



June 9, 1942.

F. o. GOODMAN 2,286,082

noon

Filed May 1, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 9, 1942.

F. o. GOODMAN noon Filed y 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ja erzz/ I Jffazzgg.

Patented June 9, 1942 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR Frank 0. Goodman, Chicago, Ill.

Application May 1, 1940, Serial No. 332,643

4 Claims.

'lhis invention relates to doors and particularly to doors for garages, barns and the like, which are employed to close large openings.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved door of the overhead type which can be readily fabricated and installed, easily operated, and which employs a simple mechanism for removal from and return to the opening which requires no attention or adjustments.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door which can be lowered into its fully closed position and locked in that position and which will nevertheless permit the uppermost section of the door to be opened for ventilation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carrying means by which the entire door may be lifted from its closed position into a horizontal position above the door opening with need for little overhead space above the door opening and adjacent the ceiling of the room.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door in which the uppermost section is completely free of any bearing mechanisms to sustain it upon the tracks provided for carrying the lower section of the door into open position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door in which the uppermost section, when carried into open position, is completely'supported and carried by the lower portion of the door.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will appear from the following description thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

Figure l is a rear elevation of a two-section door incorporating this invention, in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of one end of the junction between the uppermost section of the door and a lower section thereof, showing looking means by which the door is secured in closed position, and bearing means by which the lower section is supported and guided in its movement from closed into open position.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1 of a sectional elevation of the door shown in Fig. l, in closed position.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 of the uppermost section of the door in partially open position for ventilation with a fragment of the lower portion of the door shown in closed position.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view of the door shown in Fig. 1 in completely open position and with the two sections of the door sustained in horizontal position by the horizontal portion of the door rails.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view in perspective of the carrying means by which the lower section of the door lifts the upper section of the door from its closed position and supportsthe upper section as it is carried from the vertical position shown in Fig. 3 into the horizontal position shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of a latch by which the uppermost section of the door may be operated to open it into the paritally open position shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of an optional formation of the lower frame member of the uppermost section of the door to facilitate swinging the'door into the partially open position shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, the door comprises a plurality of horizontal sections, shown in the drawings as two sections, the upper section designated by the numeral l0 and the lower section by the numeral H. The two door sections [0 and H are entirely independent of each other when in closed position. These'sections close the opening defined by conventional door posts 9, 9 which are provided with stops such as those indicated by the numeral [2 in Figs. 3 and 4, and the lintel I 3 above the doorway, which is provided with a stop M, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Suitably mounted upon the side posts or walls about the door opening are the tracks or rails it which rise vertically from the floor, are formed into the curved portions I1 and terminate in the horizontal portions I8 which run along the ceiling of the room from which they are suspended. Although these rails are shown in the form of tubular rails slotted along their entire length to permit the passage of the bearing members secured to the door and carrying wheels within the rails, other suitable rails, such as angular iron rails may be employed with a slight modification in the bearing structure.

Aflixed to the lowermost section of the door and near the bottom thereof are the anchors l9 by which cables or chains 20 are secured to the door. These cables or chains run over suitable pulleys 2| and 22 secured to the ceiling and walls of the room and are anchored to the lintel I2 by the eyelets 23. The pulleys 22 are anchored to the rear wall 24 of the garage by resilient springs 25 which, by drawing upon the pulleys 22, exert a lifting efiect upon the lower section of the door by means of the cables or chains 20 and the anchors I9. If desired appropriate counterweights may be used in the familiar manner in place of the springs.

The lower section II of the door, shown in Fig. 1 is made of the conventional horizontal and vertical frame members 26, 21, 28 and 29, which enclose suitable panels 36 and which may be reinforced by intermediate frame members such as the horizontal frame member 3! and the vertical frame members 23 to give rigidity to the door structure. The upper section II] has similar horizontal frame members 33, 34 and 35 and vertical members 36, 31 and 38 enclosing panels 39.

The lower door section is provided with bearing member 40 near its upper edge secured to the horizontal frame member 26 at each of the outer ends thereof and similar bearing members 4| secured to the lowermost frame member 2! at each of the outer ends thereof. These bearing members 46 and 6+ are conventional and may be identical. A typical bearing member for this purpose is illustrated in detail in Fig. 2, where one of the bearing members 46 is shown composed of a supporting plate 42 upon which is mounted an axle supporting a rotatable wheel 44 which is designed for travel within the rails l6, l1, and [8. Obviously these bearing members can be varied and if a different rail member from that shown is employed the bearing members must be adapted accordingly.

The upper section 16 of the door is not equipped with any bearing members whatsoever. The door stops I2, which form the sides of the door opening, are affixed to conventional door posts 9, 9 and are cut into the shape best shown in Fig. 3, with the stop members narrower throughout the length, indicated by th numeral 45, adjacent to the side frame members 36 and 31 of the upper section of the door. In that portion in the length of the stop member l2 at which the lower edge of the upper section of the door lies when the door is in closed position, the stop member is cut horizontally to form a bearing surface 46 for the lower frame member 34- of the upper section of the door, and if desired a bearing plate 41 may be interposed to reduce wear upon the stop member and to reduce the friction between the members when the upper section of the door is swung into ventilating position.

The stop member may also optionally be cut into the form shown'in Fig. 8 where the stop member 2 is concavely cut at I46 and provided with an arcuate bearing member I41. If this form of stop member is employed, the end of the lower frame member 34 of the upper section of the door should preferably be cut into the convex form shown in Fig. 8 in order to facilitate the swinging of the upper door section upon the bearing I41.

Secured to the upper framemember 26 of the lower door section are the kick plates 48 and the carriers 49 which are'shown in detail in Fig. 2. The kick plates 43 overlie lock'plates 59 se-- cured to the lower frame member 34 of the upper door section and also underlie the bolts 12 of the door lock which will be described hereafter. The carriers ,49 are so mounted upon the lower door section as to be alined with the flanged tongues secured to the upper frame member 33 of the upper door section. The respective parts are shown in operative relation in detail in Fig. 6. Their operation will be hereinafter described.

Also secured to the upper frame member 33 of the upper door section are the lock plates 52 which are alined with the kick plates 48, and also underlie the latches 53 secured to the door lintel 13.

The latches 53 are conventional plunger type latches in which a bolt 54 with an inclined face is driven by a coil spring within the cylinder forming the latch body into closed position as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Surmounting the latches 53 are the bell cranks 55, each having one end passing through an eyelet in the end of the bolt 54 and the other end secured to an operating cable 56 which runs over a pulley 51.

The other end of the cable 56 is secured to the periphery of the circular plate 58, which forms part of the lock mounted adjacent one side of the door as shown in Fig. 1. This circular plate 58 is pivoted at its center and rotated by the lever 59. A notch 69 in the periphery of the plate is adapted to receive the bolt 6! of the latch 62 by which the circular plate 58 may be locked against rotation. If desired the latch 62 may be of the key-controlled type.

Secured to the outside of the vertical frame member 36 of the upper door section I0 is the keeper 64 of the latch 63, shown in Fig. 7. A latch lever 65 is pivotally mounted upon the door post 9 so that the handle 66 swings within the building while the keeper engaging arm 61 swings outside of the door and in an arc entering the keeper 64. The upper section of the door may be swung from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, in the manner to be described hereafter, by operation of this latch lever.

The latch lever handle 66 may, as shown in Fig. 1, be attached to the cable 56 so that operation of the cable to unlock the upper door section by rotation of the handle 59 will simultaneously swing the latch lever and swing the upper door section into ventilating position.

Secured to the door posts on both sides of the door as shown in Fig. l are the brackets 68 as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, which project into the building a suflicient distance so that when the upper section of the door is tilted for ventilation purposes, as shown in Fig. 4, it will rest against these brackets and its inward movement thus restricted to the distance so fixed. It is desirable that this bracket be located. sufiiciently near the door opening so as to limit the open space above the door section to a dimension which will not permit a person to crawl through the opening and thus secure entry into the building.

he lock designed to lock the door in closed position is shown mounted upon the upper door section. It comprises the circular plate 69rotated by the handle 'lil (shown in Figs. 3 and 4) and the rods H which terminate in the plungers 72 which reciprocate within the cylinders i3 secured to the body of the door section by means of the brackets H6. These cylinders contain ap propriate coil springs to force the plungers 12 into open position. Theplungers 12 may also be forced into locking position by rotation of the circular disk 69 when it is'desired to lock the door. The disk 69 may be provided with suitable conventional locking means, responsive to a key with which looks of this type are normally equipped;

The plungers l2 overlie the kick plates 48 sothat when the locking rods H are operated to drive the .plungers l2into locking position they will bear against the kick plates 48 and prevent the lifting of the lower door section II.

The lower door section may also be equipped with a conventional handle at the base of the door as indicated by the numeral 11.

Operation of the door When the door is in closed position as shown in Fig. 3, the upper section of the door can be opened into the ventilating position shown in Fig. 4 by operating the bolt 6| to unlatch the circular plate 58 so that it may be rotated by the handle 59. The cable 56, by means of the bell cranks 55, will lift the plungers 54 to a position above the lock plates 52 and thus unlock the upper door section. Thereupon, by swinging the latch lever 65, which can be done simultaneously with the rotation of the handle 59 if the latch lever 65 is also secured to the cable 56, the latch 61 engaging the keeper 64 will force the door section inwardly until it rests upon the brackets 68. It will be observed that the door section l pivots about the lower frame member 34 upon the bearing plate 41.

The lower edge of the upper door section is prevented from rising during this operation because the lock plates 50, which underlie the kick plates 48 on the lower door section II, are restrained by the kick plates 48 from rising, and the door section is thus efiectually restrained.

To restore the door section into closed position it is only necessary to operate the handle 66 in the reverse direction and the latch lever 61 cooperating with the keeper 64 will return the door section into closed position.

When the door is closed and locked the bolts 12 bear against the kick plates 48 and prevent the lower section of the door from being lifted. Any force applied to the lower section of the door will be transmitted to the upper section by means of the kick plates 43, the plungers 12, the cylinders l3 and the brackets 14, and inasmuch as the upper frame member l3 of the upper section It of the door bears against the lintel l3 no movement will be imparted to the door.

To open the entire door into the position shown in Fig. 5, the door is unlocked by rotating the circular disk 69 by means of the handle Ill whereupon the plungers 12 are withdrawn from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 into the position shown in Fig. 1,

Thereupon, as the lower section of the door is lifted by means of the handle 11, aided by the force applied by the resilient spring 25 and transmitted through the cables 29, the lower section of the door will rise adjacent to the upper section, guided by the travel of the wheels 44 within the rails l6, until the kick plates 48 engage the plungers 54 and force them above the lock plates 52 while the carriers 49 engage the flanged tongues 5|. At this stage in the operation of the lower section, the bearings begin their travel about the arcuate section I! of the rails and the carriers 49, engaging the flanged tongues 5| draw the upper door inwardly and rock it upon the lower frame member 34. As the lower section II of the door continues its rise, the upper section It) will be wholly sustained by engagement of the flanged tongues 51 with the carriers 49, and further movement of the lower section II of the door about the arcuate path formed by the rails H and into the horizontal position'above the horizontal section of the rail l8 (shown in Fig. 5) will carry with it the upper section I9.

When the door is in the horizontal position til shown in Fig. 5, to close the door it is only nec-. essary to move the lower section II towardv the door opening. The upper section [0 will be carried with the lower section until the lower frame member 34 engages the bearing plat above the horizontal portion 46 of the stop member l2. Just before this occurs, the lower section of the door will have attained a wholly vertical position and the course of it travel about the arcuate rail portion I! will swing the upper section into closed position with its upper edge against the stop I 4 attached to the door lintel l3. the upper frame member 33 of the upper door section Ill swings into that position the lock plates 52 will bear against the inclined inner surface of the bolts 54 in the latches 53 and will force the bolts upward against the resilient springs within the latches and permit the door to clear the bolts and be latched into vertical position when it has reached the end of its movement into closed position. The lower section of the door will continue its downward movement independently of the upper section until the kick plates 48 are beneath the bolt 12 when the door may be locked in closed position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A multi-section overhead door comprising a door frame, upper and lower horizontal door sections, the upper section of said door being unattached to said lower section, a pair of tracks located on opposite sides of the door opening and each having a vertical rail curved inwardly at the top thereof and merging with a horizontal rail normal to said opening, bearing means upon the lower section of said door engageable with said tracks, means upon said door frame to sustain the upper section in closed position, interengaging means on the upper and lower sections to prevent raising of the upper section from its closed position when the lower section is closed, and means upon said lower section to lift said upper section from the door frame and to carry said upper section into horizontal open position.

2. A multi-section overhead door comprising a door frame, upper and lower horizontal door sections, the upper section of said door bein unattached to said lower section, a pair of tracks located on opposite sides of the door opening and each having a vertical rail curved inwardly at the top thereof and merging with a horizontal rail normal to said opening, bearing means upon the lower section of said door engageable with said tracks, means upon said door frame to sustain the upper section in closed position and. to permit said upper section to pivot about one end upon said means into partially open position, stops carried by the door frame and lying in the path of pivotal movement of the upper section to limit pivotal movement thereof, and means upon said lower section to lift said upper section from the door frame and to carry said upper section into horizontal open position.

3. A multi-section overhead door comprising a door frame, an upper door section sustained by said frame in closed position and pivotally mounted therein, a lower section provided with bearing means upon the ends thereof, tracks located on opposite sides of said door frame and each having a vertical rail curved inwardly at the top thereof and merging with a horizontal rail normal to said opening, said tracks being engageable with said bearing means, carrier means upon said lower section, means upon said upper section engageable' by said; carrier means'when the lower section ofsaid door i raised from closed-position, and interengaging means onthe upper and lower sections to prevent opening of the upper section when the lower sectionis closed. p

4. A multi-section overhead door comprising a door frame; a plurality of vertically spaced door sections within said frame; the uppermost of said sections being freely mounted and pivot-' ally supported in said frame and the remaining sections being supported in position by bearing members secured thereto; manually operable means whereby said uppermost door section may be swung about its lower edge into partially open position; stops carried by" the door frame and engaging the uppermost section to limit said swinging thereof, a'pair' of tracks rising vertically adjacent said door frame and continuing horizontally above it; the bearing-supported ections of the door being movably guided and supported by said tracks; interengaging parts on the uppermost and next adjacent door sections to prevent raising of the uppermost section when the adjacent section is in closed position, and carrier means upon said uppermost door section engageable by the adjacent bearing-supported door section whereby upon movement of said adjacent door section said uppermost door section will be lifted from said door frame and transported into horizontal position above said 15 door frame and above said adjacent door section.

FRANK o. GOODMAN. 

